He said therefore: "What is the Kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? It is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in the garden; it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches. " (Luke 13:18-19)

A mustard seed is sown in a garden. The mustard seed was proverbially the smallest of all seeds. It grew into a bush. Jesus apparently did not explain this parable. The meaning that I am sharing with you does not have to be yours--indeed, you may prefer another meaning. But I would urge you at least to consider this one, since Thérèse took it very much to heart.

To understand the parable in the context of the times, we need to realize that the Kingdom of God for the Israelite community of that period held special connotations. One of these was the hope of a vindictive triumph over the Roman Empire which had been oppressing the nation for decades. The people were living under the boot of an alien power that disregarded the values of their religion and kept them in oppressive circumstances. They were asking: "How can we be the chosen people according to the Torah, especially loved by God, and yet still be living in such miserable circumstances? How can we reconcile our faith in God's sovereignty and power and accept the fact that he does nothing to change the situation?"

This is one of the great questions that faith is confronted with. How can we experience so much negativity in our lives and yet go on believing that a loving God is in charge of everything? Why doesn't God change things? We keep pounding on the door of heaven with our petitions and there doesn't seem to be anybody home. God seems to ignore us.

Job asked similar questions, according to the famous Old Testament story, when he had his own personal difficulties with God. The parable of the mustard seed is Jesus' response to this problem. In Luke's version of the parable, the seed grows into a tree. Perhaps Luke's reasoning was that the mustard seed, if it was to be a symbol of the Kingdom of God, had to grow into something significant. In actual fact, mustard seeds do not grow into trees. They do not grow into cedars of Lebanon, which could reach to three hundred feet in height and hold a lot of birds.

For the listeners to Jesus' parable, a mustard seed could only grow into a small bush-not more than four feet high and only a few birds would be able to make a bedraggled nest in its branches. As a symbol, therefore, the mustard seed is the reverse of what the Israelites at the time had in mind when they envisaged the Kingdom of God. They believed that, through Israel, God would establish his sovereignty and rule over all the nations of the world. Yet, the parable clearly states that the Kingdom of God has nothing to do with a vindictive triumph over one's enemies or worldly success. What this parable clearly implies is that, if you think that your church, your nation, or your ethnic group is going to be delivered by God, and enjoy a magnificent triumph--or if you expect that the world is going to be converted to Jesus Christ--you are mistaken; it isn't going to happen. What the Gospel is interested in is you. Not what you can do; just plain you.

St. Thérèse writes:

Holiness does not consist in this or that practice but in a disposition of heart [notice the shift from externals to internals] which remains always humble and little in God's arms, but trusting to audacity in the Father's goodness.

That is what St. Thérèse meant when she talked about the way of spiritual childhood. This is what Jesus meant when he said: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matt.l8:3). He was thinking of a good family, where the children can fully trust their parents.

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Excerpted from St. Thérèse of Lisieux by Fr. Thomas Keating

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